Being John Malkovich: Caging the Mind and Infiltrating the Body

The theory of space used in various contexts to elevate certain topics without much dialogue portrays desires or headspaces that do not need to be shown through words as characters confined in a space can be utilized instead. Being John Malkovich employs this exact technique by making use of the space that surrounds the characters to exhibit such phenomena. One of the first times the audience encounters this is when Craig is putting on a puppet show in the street. His drive to be a puppeteer makes him put art over what would be deemed appropriate. This instance where the audience can clearly tell Craig would risk everything for his aspiration without thinking about what is proper foreshadows the events that are to unfold in the future. 

The odd workspace and the disorganized home environment also indicate the chaotic occurrences that are set to ensue. The seventh and a half floor is the first queer space that is showcased. The floor and the house, which are too small to fit all the people that come along with it, show the inspiration Malkovich has but fails to present as he does not have a platform or an audience that is willing to perceive him yet. He is not happy with the life he leads therefore he does everything in his power to change his fate. 

Although Craig is the apparent case of being confined, it is not the only example as everyone in the film is trapped in their own skin in one way or another. The earliest time Craig shows his desire to be someone else is during the play when he uses the Maxine puppet for the first time. He outright utters how he is not satisfied with his own body and would give everything to just shed his skin to be someone else for even a day. Trapped in a loveless marriage, trapped in a struggling artist’s body, trapped in a dull workspace. There are too many literal and figurative spaces where Craig is held captive. All of these problems vanish when he finds a way out of the cage that is the body of Craig Schwartz. He is now John Malkovich. A handsome, desirable, and successful man. John is everything Craig is not. While the freedom of being John is liberating; as Craig loses himself to become him, it comes with a price he is willing to pay. 

Infiltrating someone’s mind and body turns into a business as Maxine and Craig start making money off of John. Maxine and Craig offer people an escape from their own demons for fifteen minutes. Seeing the world through John’s eyes brings a new perspective into everyone’s lives as they all leave discovering a new part about themselves. While at first, they are only a mere reflection; over time as Craig finds a way to gain subconsciousness in John’s body, it stops being someone for a few minutes and starts being someone else for the rest of their life while the person whose body they are forcing themselves and mind into gets stuck in a corner. Craig’s wife Lotte uses this opportunity to break free from the norms that are placed on her by society. After Lotte figures out that her fling with Maxine in John’s body is not just a fling, Craig takes over John’s body for good while putting Lotte in Elijah’s cage. Craig spends years in a place he does not belong in and gets a taste of the success he always desired. His punishment ends up being the exact same thing that he did to John Malkovich for years as he gets to live as Maxine and Lotte’s kid but just as a mere shadow in her mind. Forever stuck as someone he is not just like how he was before.